A-4/V-2 Display
- Imperial War Museum, London, England
Photos
Ed Straten and Brian
Marshall
The Imperial War Museum
is one of the most visited and
accessible museums in Europe.
Located near the heart of
London, you can glimpse many
types of weapons, vehicles,
uniforms, and other oddities
from both WWI and WWII. The
V-2 is normally located in the
foyer, the
London Large Exhibit Room, and
is one of the most
photographed A-4/V-2s in the
world—no doubt you will have
seen this rocket in many
publications. The rocket is
painted in an odd color of
green and cut up for interior
display purposes, nonetheless,
it is a nice exhibit.
In 2012 the IWM V-2 was
removed from the museum, due
to construction works needed
to transform the museum, and
moved to conservatory in
Duxford, Cambridgeshire. The
V-2 returned to London at
the beginning of 2014 and
has been enjoyed by visitors
since.
Photos
below show the IWM V-2 as it appeared in the late
1940s and early 1950s.
Seen
above is photo taken of the IWM London V-2 before
its removal in 2012.
2012
removal of V-2 from IWM London
Photos
below show the IWM V-2 in Hanger No. 5 at Duxford
in 2013. Interior components not seen in years are
visible.
The missile has now returned to IWM. (CLICK ON
THUMBNAIL TO ENLARGE)
Photos
below show the IWM V-2 as it appeared for many
decades in Large Exhibit
Room.. (CLICK ON THUMBNAIL TO ENLARGE)
Imperial War Museums
(IWM) is a British national museum
organisation with branches at five locations
in England, three of which are in London.
Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917,
the museum was intended to record the civil
and military war effort and sacrifice of
Britain and its Empire in
war. During the 1970s the museum
began to expand onto other sites. The first,
in 1976, was a historic airfield in
Cambridgeshire now referred to as IWM
Duxford. In 2011 the museum rebranded itself
as IWM, standing for "Imperial War Museums."
The
museum's collections include archives of
personal and official documents,
photographs, film and video material, and
oral history recordings; an extensive
library, a large art collection, and
examples of military vehicles and aircraft,
equipment and other artifacts.
